The Smash Show: Brawl
by Unruly Scrawler
Summary: How are a moody Marth, temperamental Zelda and obsessive Link finding life at the new Brawl Stadium? And what happens when their fellow brawlers start disappearing? MarthxZelda
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! Unruly Scrawler here! Here's the first chapter of my newest story! Hope you enjoy it!

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><p><em>Super Smash Bros. Brawl Stadium- or Brawl Stadium for short. The newest building in a short but very impressive line of fighting arenas, where the participants (Brawlers, as they like to call each other) live in districts named after the stages in which they fight.<em>

_In this issue of Brawl Weekly we'll be interviewing Falco from the Lylat District and Yoshi from the Yoshi's Island District, as well as an exclusive interview with the head honcho himself- Crazy Hand! We'll also take a look at the latest Brawler fashions and some Brawl Monthly exclusive snapshots from the first matches! And don't forget to check the back pages for favourite Brawler quotes and polls..._

Marth closed the newspaper and slowly rolled it back up, scowling the entire time.

Marth was from Brawl Stadium's older twin- Smash (Melee) Stadium. He, like all the other Smashers, had been surprised to hear from Master Hand about the opening of the new stadium, which would be run by his brother Crazy Hand. They'd also been shocked by the idea that new Smashers- or Brawlers- would be joining them, and that not all of them would make the cut and get to move on to Brawl Stadium.

He had, of course. Marth had expected that would happen, but he had still been a bit relieved- and wary- when he received his invitation. It meant he was good enough to transfer to the new stadium, but did he really want to?

In the end, he'd taken a leap of faith, and had landed solidly. Brawl Stadium had turned out to be one of the best things that had ever happened to him.

Why? Because of who _didn't _make the cut of course.

Marth smiled to himself as he tightened his hold, crushing the newspaper.

Mewtwo hadn't made the cut- and boy was that a blessing. Not only was the purple pokemon a sadist that had taken a liking to bullying Marth, he was also a delusional dictator.

(In Zelda's opinion, Mewtwo was just irritating. She wouldn't rant to such an extent as Marth. But Zelda is off doing something else right now.)

Then there was Pichu. Maybe not the worst, but still bothersome. A greedy little pokemon who had no morals and didn't mind blackmailing.

Marth's scowl darkened. Ok, she was pretty bad too.

(Zelda actually liked Pichu.)

Young Link hadn't made it either, and Marth would never cease being thankful for that. Young Link was obsessed- with him, Marth- to such a degree he would copy whatever colour the older boy was wearing.

(Zelda had to agree. Young Link was a brat. A whiney brat.)

And finally, there was Roy. Roy- who was an excellent Smasher and had placed second in their largest tournament ever. Roy hadn't made it. Roy, his skirt-chasing, half-witted brother, hadn't made it.

Marth reached for his coffee, feeling as smug as he had when his invitation had arrived at their apartment, and his only.

(Zelda didn't mind Roy, but he was related to Marth, which wasn't a good thing in her books.)

The point was, most of Marth's annoyances had been eliminated. Except for two who had, unfortunately, come to Brawl Stadium as well. Link-

(_Link_.)

-and Zelda.

Though Link was bad, he was more like a speck on your windshield that just wouldn't come off, unlike Zelda, who was more a giant, distorting crack in the middle of the windshield, threatening to shatter the whole thing in on you at any time.

(Zelda, personally, thought she was excellent.)

But still, at least Roy and the others were gone. Reassuring himself of this wonderful fact, Marth took a long sip of his coffee.

"Hey Marth! What's up?"

Marth nearly spit out his coffee, (and that's saying something). Whirling around, the knight glared at the young man coming through his front door.

Correction: _their _front door.

He may have lost four annoyances, but he'd gained one. His cousin, Ike.

He and Ike shared an apartment in the Castle Seige Distract. It was like living with Roy again, except minus the skirt-chasing and half of the half-witted.

At least Ike understood to stay away from his coffee. And his room. And his business.

All things Roy had never been good at.

"Nothing." Marth grumbled in reply to Ike's question, sipping his coffee moodily.

Ike came over to the dining room table and picked up the newspaper, "What's this?"

"Recyclable." Marth muttered.

Ike ignored him and started flipping through the pages, "Hey, there's an interview with Falco and Yoshi in here! The Yoshi one isn't very long..."

Marth snorted. Yoshi was, in a way, like a pokemon. The only question it could get the right answer to was it's name.

Mewtwo and Pichu would have killed him for saying that.

Marth smirked.

But Mewtwo and Pichu_ weren't here_.

"I didn't know we had a newspaper." Ike said, turning the page again, "Who runs this?"

"Daisy." Marth growled. Why was Ike home? He was usually off practising during the day- something Marth only did when Crazy Hand made it mandatory, which was pretty much once a week.

"Daisy?" Ike repeated, giving Marth a startled look, "Who's that?"

"The brunette Peach." Marth replied.

Ike continued to blink stupidly at him, "Who's Peach again?"

Marth sighed, "The pink thing."

"_Oh_." Ike drawled. A moment later and he was back to the magazine. Suddenly, Ike brightened. "Hey Marth! Look at this!"

Before Marth could tell his cousin he didn't care about anything he ever wanted to show him so they should just never converse, and then have to explain what 'converse' meant, Ike shoved the newspaper in his face.

Marth barely had time to register the blue blur in front of him before Ike pulled the paper back to marvel over.

"What is it?" Marth asked, forgetting he didn't care. When he remembered, he mentally slapped his forehead.

"Me!" Ike exclaimed, staring adoringly at the pictures, "Look at that pose I'm striking! So heroic! Such a manly pose!"

Marth rolled his eyes and grabbed the newspaper, ignoring Ike's protests as he looked at the snapshot pages. Sure enough, there was a picture of Ike; in the background, half cut off, behind a battling Fox and Meta Knight, throwing his sword in the air.

Marth handed back the newspaper and grabbed his coffee.

"What do you think?" Ike asked, eyes on the picture again, "Should I frame it? Put it in my room? Add it to my collection?"

Marth pushed back his chair and got up.

"Or should I scrapbook it? Nah, actually that's a bad idea. Girls scrapbook. I'll put it in a photo album."

Marth left the room.

"Or maybe I should send it to my mom?" Ike stroked his chin, "Or I could send it to Roy, show him how great I am- I mean, how great Brawl Stadium is. But he didn't write me back last time I did that. Do you know why, Marth? Marth?"

And, of course, Marth didn't answer.

But Ike didn't even notice he was gone; he was back to admiring his picture.

"My, do I look handsome!"

...

Zelda was in her sitting room, drinking tea. Because that's what princesses do when they're not being captured or getting married.

Or maybe it's because tea is just devilishly good and- let's face it- princesses rarely end up with a husband that can satisfy them more than tea can.

All thoughts of marriage aside, Zelda was in a good mood. After all, here she was in the reconstruction of Temple District, all alone, on her own, without anyone else to bother her.

There had been a Temple District in Smash Stadium too, but Zelda hadn't been the only one with an apartment there. Marth and Roy had lived there also and- to make things worse- the three of them had been required to share a kitchen.

But that was a long story, and it had a lot to do with coffee. And Zelda hated coffee.

Anyways, the point was Zelda was loving Brawl Stadium. Although she missed Pichu, she was all too happy to see the backs of the other vexations. Not that she couldn't handle them. Of course she could. She was Zelda after all.

There was a reason they called it 'The Legend of Zelda' and not 'The Legend of Link'.

Speaking of Link, she was seeing less and less of him, which was even better! She'd been devastated when she first found out that Link would be living on the Bridge of Eldin model that connected the Temple District to Brawl Stadium, but she'd soon come up with a brilliant (if she did say so herself) plan to keep him out of her hair. And face. And closet.

And it was working.

Now less Link wasn't the only good thing about Brawl Stadium; Zelda had found herself a whole new body of agents to do her dirty work. It was much better asking them to get things done behind the scenes than try and order Link to do anything at all. That's why Link was there, a guard sent by her father to keep watch over her.

It was really the other way around.

Suddenly, Zelda realized she wasn't alone.

Gently laying down her cup, the princess turned around. As she was turning she caught a wisp of blue hair in her peripheral vision.

Why was he-

But no, she realized, it wasn't him. It was Lucario.

"Lady Zelda." Lucario said, dropping into a bow, his nose touching the floor. Zelda swore he just liked sitting like that- or crouching, whatever you would call it.

"What is it?" Zelda sighed, unusually disappointed (relieved, she told herself, at not having to go through the bother of kicking _him _out of her district).

"An odd brunette girl that smelt of flowers is on her way over here." Lucario reported, "I believe she is going to request an interview with you. I took it upon myself to warn you, Lady Zelda, for she has already made a fool out of two of our fellow Brawlers."

Zelda raised an eyebrow. That sounded like Daisy, but was she honestly able to make a fool out of anyone besides herself? She _was _related to Peach, after all.

"What did she do?" Zelda asked, to which Lucario whipped out a newspaper and proffered it to the princess.

"Pages six and seven." Lucario said.

Zelda flipped through until she found the right sections. She scowled at it, "Who interviews Yoshi?"

"Please read them, Lady Zelda." Lucario said, "The summaries at the bottom of the interviews should be duly noted."

"Yeah, yeah." Zelda said, waving a hand dismissively at Lucario as she read the interviews, "These seem fine so far. Dull, but fine... Wait; 'what's your sexual preference?' What kind of question is _that _in a Brawl newspaper? 'What's Falco's sexual preference?' Why would she ask Yoshi..."

Lucario didn't say anything and Zelda kept reading. By the time she finished, she had her hand clamped over her mouth to keep back the giggles.

"Ok," Zelda managed, trying to fight back her laughter, "So, according to these summaries, Falco and Fox have been having an illicit affair, which Falco recently broke off because he fell in love with Yoshi, who left Berto for him, then Berto and Falco got into a cat- er, bird fight over Yoshi, who could only watch helplessly as Berto tried to drown his 'true love' in the river at Jungle Japes. Luckily Falco got out alive, but the couple isn't suing Berto, because they didn't want to make a scene, and Falco is still having trouble accepting his love for nintendo dinosaurs?"

"Yes." Lucario said, "That sums it up."

Zelda couldn't keep it in any longer and started laughing, "This is ridiculous! Oh, but my favourite part is right here, when Daisy asks: what do you like to do best with fellow Brawler Yoshi? And Falco says 'ride him'!" Zelda burst out laughing, falling back on her couch, "Oh my god! She set them up so well!"

"She did." Lucario said, rising to his feet and dusting himself off, "That is why I felt I should warn you, Lady Zelda, since she wishes to interview you."

Zelda froze, "Right, thank you Lucario. I'll be sure to turn her down."

Lucario nodded, "Then I shall take my leave, Lady Zelda." at the Princess's nod, Lucario disappeared in a puff of blue smoke.

Only then did she recommence her laughing.

"I wish I could show this to Pichu!" Zelda exclaimed, "She loves this kind of stuff!"

Which was true enough. Pichu had written a romance/drama about Link and Young Link that was over fifty two chapters long. It was a rewrite; Link had hacked onto her computer and erased the original when they were still in Smash Stadium.

And so, when Zelda had recovered enough, she started ripping out the interviews to send to her green backpack wearing pokemon friend.

...

Link was sitting on the Bridge of Eldin, twirling his boomerang on his finger. Under Zelda's orders, of course. She'd told him it was easier to protect her if he guarded the bridge, instead of hanging around inside her apartment and having a full out battle there, where she might be put at risk. It was logical, Link had to admit. And he was glad that, for once, his love was thinking about her own well-being.

_It's because the evil sorcerer demon is gone,_ Link told himself. Zelda had barely seen the demon at all since they'd come to Brawl Stadium, and so the spell must have been broken. (The spell that had bewitched Zelda and made her fall in love with the demon, that is).

But still, the demon might come back any time, so Link had to be on guard.

Which he was. On the bridge. Every day.

It was better than having to fight _him _each morning, Link told himself. And having to put up with the demon's brother, and his own brother (who was very close to being a demon in his own right) and his brother's demonic pokemon sidekick.

Yes, Brawl Stadium was, on a whole, better.

Link's boomerang toppled over. Reaching for it to spin again, Link realized the silence of the bridge wasn't quite as silent as it had been. There was music. Faint music.

And it was coming from behind him.

Link whirled around. How had someone snuck past? He'd been on guard! Were they going after Zelda? Maybe it was the demon-

The last thing Link saw before fainting were the bricks of the Eldin Bridge.

...

Several minutes later, Lucario was walking down the bridge. Usually he just teleported everywhere, but now that he'd informed Zelda of the danger, he wasn't in any hurry. It was getting late anyways, so his shift was pretty much over.

Lucario paused a moment and looked around the empty bridge. He passed this way many times (though he was never spotted) and thus something appeared to be missing. But he just couldn't put his finger on what.

"I need a drink..." Lucario muttered, dragging a paw tiredly over his face, before going off to find his drinking buddy for a well earned night at Jungle Japes.

He only hoped he didn't see Berto. The last time she was there she'd hit on him relentlessly. And boy had that been awkward.

"Three drinks." Lucario decided, "I definitely need eight drinks."

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><p>So there it is! Took me long enough to finally post! I've been debating putting this one up for awhile, but I'm going to give it a shot! If you want to leave a review, that would be great! I'd love to hear what you guys think so far, even if this isn't much to go on! I'll have chapter two up as soon as it's done- within a week at most!<p>

Anyways, thanks for reading! ;)


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys! Here's the second chapter! A day later than promised, but oh well. Hope you enjoy it!

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><p>Zelda was sitting in her living room, still drinking tea, when Daisy walked in.<p>

"Hi Zelda!" Daisy said, smiling broadly, "I was passing by, and I thought I'd drop in and see how you were doing!"

Zelda was, meanwhile, glaring. After getting over the initial shock of Daisy just strolling into her house, it seemed the most appropriate thing to do.

"How did you get in?" Zelda asked.

Daisy giggled, "Through the front door, silly!"

Zelda scowled into her lap, ignoring Daisy's friendly act. She was going to _fire _Link. And by 'fire' she didn't mean relieve of his position.

"So Zelda," Daisy went on, taking a seat on the adjacent settee, "How are you finding things at Brawl Stadium?"

She was going to be indirect about the interview, was she?

Zelda stood, "Would you like a cup of tea, Daisy?"

Daisy beamed, "I'd love one!"

"Great." Zelda said, with a fake smile of her own, "I'll be back in a sec, then we can have a nice detailed chat about my private life."

"Pardon?" Daisy said with a small frown, "I didn't quite catch that last part."

"I said," Zelda repeated, "Would you like green tea or black tea?"

"Oh!" Daisy grinned at Zelda, "Green tea, please. It's healthier."

"Of course." Zelda said, slipping out of the room and into the hallway.

Once out of sight, she made a sharp turn and headed straight for the front door, shutting it tight behind her and teleporting away.

...

Later that evening, Marth found himself sitting at the bar in Jungle Japes, drinking something.

And it wasn't coffee.

Which might have accounted for Marth being grumpier than usual. Or that could've been because of who was sitting next to him. Or both.

Probably both.

"God, Marth." Ike said, glancing at his cousin's glass, "You're not done yet?"

"It's beer." Marth explained, disgusted.

Ike looked confused, "Yeah, so? You chug steaming hot coffee like a man dying from thirst. One glass of beer shouldn't be a problem!"

Yes, but that was coffee, and this was beer. But even if Marth said that, he got the feeling Ike wouldn't understand.

His cousin wasn't paying attention to him anymore anyways.

"Hey!" Ike called, back to Marth as he waved at someone coming into the bar, "Pit! Come sit with us!"

Spotting Ike, the angel wove his way around the other brawlers in the bar. Jungle Japes had quickly become a favourite hangout when Brawl Stadium first opened, affording both a reminder of Smash Stadium and a place for the brawlers to lay back after a hard day of training.

"Hi Ike." Pit said, taking the free bar-stool next to the knight. After placing an order with 'n'Watch, who was working as the bar-tender that night, he turned back to them and noticed Marth for the first time.

"What are you doing here, Marth?" Pit asked, looking surprised, then sheepish, "I mean, it's not that it isn't nice to see you, it's just you usually don't hang around here."

"Ike dragged me." Marth growled, shooting daggers at his cousin as the other knight downed what remained of his drink.

Pushing his empty glass aside, Ike grinned at Pit, "How about a drinking match, Pit? You and me! We'll see who passes out first!"

Marth rolled his eyes, "That sounds delightful."

Ike gave Marth a surprised look, "You want to play too?"

Marth rolled his eyes again.

"I better not." Pit broke in, looking apologetic, "I have to work later tonight and Ze- er, my boss, doesn't like it when I'm drinking on the job."

"But you wouldn't be drinking on the job." Ike replied, "You'd be drinking _before_."

Marth sighed. Normally, Ike's reply could have been taken as some form of sarcasm- if it had been coming from anyone _other _than Ike. But, as it was, Marth's cousin was completely serious.

"Still..." Pit said, scratching the back of his head and quickly fixing his laurel wreath when it started to tilt, "My boss would go berserk if she found me drunk during my shift, no matter when I'd actually had the drinks."

Ike blew out an annoyed breath, "Fine. And I was even gonna go easy on you."

Pit gave the knight a dubious look, but Ike didn't notice.

Marth, meanwhile, was watching Pit with narrowed eyes.

"What do you mean by 'work' exactly?" Marth asked, startling the angel, "You've brought it up before."

Pit was suddenly averting his eyes, offering a nervous smile as he shrugged, "You know. Work. Stadium work."

Marth raised one eyebrow, unconvinced, "Aren't our jobs just to train and participate in matches?"

Pit shrugged again, "Yeah..."

Marth waited, but Pit didn't say anything else. The angel did steal a couple of glances at Ike though, as if in hopes Marth's cousin would rescue him from the conversation. But, alas, Ike had realized that- when he held his cup at a certain angle- he could see his reflection in the glass and thus, was lost to the world.

"So what kind of stadium work do you do?" Marth asked, trying to go for a less accusatory approach.

"You know." Pit said evasively, waving a hand around, "Stuff."

Ok, now Marth _knew _something was going on. There wasn't anyway he couldn't, not anymore, with Pit being this obvious.

"Interesting." Marth said, attempting to swallow the sarcasm that clung to the word as it left his mouth, "So who did you say your boss was again?"

Pit took a chance and met his eyes, grinning wobbly, "Come on, Marth. Who's in charge of _all _Stadium related stuff?"

"Ah." Marth said, sitting back, "Right, I should've known."

Pit looked relieved.

"It's funny though." Marth added, catching Pit's eye, "All this time I thought Crazy Hand was male."

Pit looked confused, "What?"

Marth continued to look at him, "You called your boss 'she'."

Pit blanched.

It was at that moment that a burst of blue smoke exploded in the seat next to Marth.

The knight yelped, almost jumping off his stool. But the next thing he knew the smoke had disappeared, and a blue pokemon had taken it's place.

"Beer!" Lucario exclaimed, eyes immediately on Marth's half full glass, which he then proceeded to swipe, "Just what I needed!"

Before anyone could say or do anything, Lucario had chugged what remained in the cup and was wiping his arm across his mouth.

"Ah!" Lucario sighed, satisfied, then leaned across the counter and waved to Mr. Game'n'Watch, who was in the middle of frying up some 2D sausages, "Bar-Tender! Top me up!"

...

Around two and a half hours later, Marth found himself supporting a bladdered blue pokemon out of Jungle Japes. A fact the knight wasn't very pleased about.

Not long after Lucario had arrived, Marth's cousin had challenged the pokemon to a drinking contest. Lucario eagerly accepted, and beat Ike hands down. Ike, no doubt, would have been mortified to have lost- at anything- but as it was, Marth didn't think his cousin would even remember the match, let alone losing it. He was still inside, at the moment, passed out on the bar.

And so, since Pit had disappeared an hour ago for his mysterious 'shift', it was left up to Marth to get Lucario home in one piece.

Marth, personally, didn't see why he had to help at all. Couldn't Lucario just teleport home? But no, Pit had said. Under no circumstances was he to let Lucario teleport while drunk.

"We don't want _that _to happen again." Pit had said.

Lucario had flapped a paw at him- the other holding his ninth drink, "Nah, no way _that _could happen again! I'll be fine!"

Pit hadn't looked convinced, and had made Marth promise to get Lucario home safely.

Neither had elaborated on what '_that_' was.

Marth was tempted to ask Lucario now, wondering if '_that_' was all that bad. Maybe it would be ok to let Lucario teleport.

But- glancing at the pokemon sagged against him- Marth doubted Lucario would even be _able _to teleport, let alone explain what '_that_' was.

Sighing, Marth hailed one of the passing boats.

Kirby was driving it.

"Buyo!" the pink thing said happily, beaming at Marth in an innocent, childish way.

_Dear God_. Marth thought, looking from the boat to Kirby at the wheel. Maybe it really _would _be safer to let Lucario teleport home.

"Buyo?" Kirby said again, starting to frown. It's eyes got teary.

Oh no. Not that look.

Marth scratched the back of his head with his free hand, "Do you think you could get Lucario back to the Spear Pillar Distract?"

"Buyo!" Kirby said.

At this point, Marth really didn't care if that was a 'Yes' or 'No way in hell'.

With a grunt, Marth hefted Lucario into the back of the boat. Marth barely had time to step away before Kirby was off, sending a spray of water over him.

Blowing a strand of wet hair out of his eyes, Marth glared after the boat, which zig-zagged haphazardly across the water, nearly crashing into the outhouse platform. Grimacing, Marth turned away and started back towards the bar. There was nothing else he could do. Lucario's fate was out of his hands.

Just as he was about to step back inside, Marth stopped, noticing something- or rather, someone- he hadn't on the way out.

It was Yoshi, tethered to a barrel outside the bar, blinking around dumbly. Marth frowned for a moment, confused, then he remembered seeing Mario and Luigi inside. They must have ridden Yoshi to the bar.

Marth scratched his head, still scowling at the nintendo character. Should he... untie him? Would this be considered animal cruelty? Or would it be kidnapping? Where exactly did Yoshi fit in on that scale?

But whether Yoshi should be considered human or animal, he looked happy enough, bobbing back and forth and staring at nothing in particular, so Marth decided to leave it, and went back in the bar to get Ike.

...

Around a half hour later, after Marth had dragged Ike home, Zelda arrived at Jungle Japes.

She'd spent the better half of the day avoiding Daisy who, as it turned out, wasn't as stunned as Zelda had first thought. She'd guessed it would take the brunette Peach at least an hour longer to clue in to being ditched than it had, and then Daisy was on the hunt.

Finally, Zelda had lost her and thus had decided she needed a break. So she'd gotten in touch with Samus, who'd agreed to meet her at Jungle Japes for a few drinks.

Zelda started for the bar door, but on her way she tripped over something. Glancing down, Zelda scowled. It was a piece of chipped, curved wood. Looking around, Zelda found other pieces like it, and quickly realized it was the remains of a destroyed barrel.

At first surprised, Zelda quickly got over it. A tipsy heavy-weight had probably fallen on the barrel- like Donkey Kong or Bowser. Or maybe someone had taken their sword or gun to the item. It could have been anything. 'Destructive' was pretty much a required trait among Brawlers.

Forgetting the destroyed barrel, Zelda went into the bar, where she found half a dozen brawlers in the middle of a tug-o-war match, with an old rope. They were pretty much the only brawlers in the bar, besides Mario and Luigi, who were passed out in the corner, muttering in spanish.

"Zelda!" Samus called. She was on one of the tug-o-war teams, pulling the rope with a look of fiery determination, "You have to help us win!"

"That's not fair!" Fox shouted. He was on the other team. "You'd have more people pulling!"

"Oh," Zelda said, pushing herself up on a bar-stool, "I'm not going to _touch _the rope."

"You're not going to help?" Samus exclaimed, giving her a bewildered look.

Zelda smirked, "Now I didn't say that, did I?"

And with this, she proceeded to start setting the other team on fire. Fox and the others yelped, surprised, but before any of them could protest she'd set their end of the rope on fire as well.

"There." Zelda said to Samus, as the other team gave up and became prime examples of the 'stop, drop and roll' technique, "Now how about those drinks?"

...

Link woke up with a killer headache, to the smell of... salt?

Sitting up, Link glanced around, and was shocked to find himself on a boat.

He was even more shocked when he saw Young Link, sitting a few feet away and staring at him intently.

Except it wasn't Young Link. Close, but not quite. Shorter, stubbier and more... pastel.

Link gawked at the boy for a moment, having no clue what was going on, where he was, or who was in front of him. The boy continued to stare, fixated on Link.

Finally, looking straight at Link, Toon Link whispered: "You're... _perfect_."

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><p>There you go! Chapter 2 done! Thanks for reading! And thanks for the review- I really appreciate it! Seeing what people think of my work is honestly the most rewarding part of posting! :)<p> 


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